Game Score: Dodgers 7, Twins 0

[mikelink45]

3 hours ago, DJL44 said:

 

 

Look at the box score. Gary Sanchez had the only hit today. Seems like an odd player to make the scapegoat.

Sanchez has 15 ABs and 7 Ks - do you want to make him a positive example?

[chinmusic]

4 hours ago, wavedog said:

At least Shoemaker and Happ are no longer in our rotation

Not to mention Colome in the pen.

[LastOnePicked]

5 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

I know it is early in the season and in a month it might be turned around, but I sure did not enjoy the Dodgers coming in and kicking butt - scoring more runs per game than all the hits we accumulated in both games combined.  

I agree with everything here, BUT ... the only way to field a dominant team like the Dodgers is to buy one (we'll never spend that kind of money) or build one. And building one is going to be a decade+ of Astros/Rays like futility, coupled with major scouting/developmental changes. And even then, you gotta keep all the right guys at the right time,

Personally, I was kinda ready for a long rebuild. And it may happen anyway. But I do appreciate that this FO made improvements, here and there, to see if things might click and we could squeak into a WC berth. And that's still possible, because it's very very very very early, The 1991 Twins stunk in April, for example.

In short, we ain't the Dodgers. But we don't have to be to have a satisfying season.

[VivaBomboRivera!]

What's blue and rhymes with, "buzz saw?"

[rv78]

Why did Correa need a day off when the next day is a sheduled day off? Unless he asked for it, he'd be out there every day. I know there is only one Cal Ripken Jr. but when I'm paying someone $35M plus, he's going to play every day he can. Rocco babies his players to the point of extreme. It also makes no sense to lose one of your starting outfielders and then put your best outfielder at DH. I guess Buck needed a rest too even though he also has the next day off. If anyone needs to take an extra day off it is Sano hitting 0-19 with 9 strikeouts but he's played every day. It almost seems like Rocco wants to play his worst players every day. 

[Whitey333]

I agree with the comments about putting in a c lineup on getaway day.  Twins have a long history with that back to TK.  I heard Correa didn't play because it was his scheduled day off.  Good grief!  Barely a week in and he needs a day off?  They have Thursday off already.  Don't put a c lineup in at home.  If you need to do it, do it on the road.  People pay money to watch your team at home.  To not put your best lineup possible out there at home is signalling you don't care.  Baldelli obviously gave Dodgers the game before it even started. What a joke.

[Otto von Ballpark]

On Kershaw, it's also worth keeping in mind what happened to him in 2021. He was out over 2 months with an elbow injury from early July into September, and after coming back for a few games at the end of the season, got shut down again with elbow/forearm issues and missed the Dodgers postseason.

This was his first competitive game back since then, so I think it's understandable why both he and his team would approach it with some caution.

[Trov]

16 hours ago, Yawn Gardenhose said:

Removing Kershaw was bad on several levels. The idea that these athletes are worth 100s of millions of dollars, yet teams treat them like pieces of porcelain because they didn't get two more spring training starts this year is frustrating and illogical. The idea that Kershaw just can't crack 80 pitches belies his actual performance that was visible to anyone watching; he showed no signs of fatigue or fading. Most concerning of all is that baseball is in an era of "anti-drama" where historical performances are intentionally avoided or aborted, always reasoned away using the word salads of new-age baseball philosophy where players are reduced to never-ending stat lines and probabilities. The role of the starting pitcher is becoming extinct, and unnaturally so - teams are purposely limiting the impact of the starter for various reasons. It's perhaps the main reason why I've found the postseason to be nearly unwatchable over the last half-decade. For a sport in decline, which already is light on drama, this strikes me as suicidal for the long-term health of the sport. Bad, bad stuff. 

I guess you know Kershaw's body/arm better than him.  He told the manager he would be done.  He was asked how he felt and if wanted to keep going in the 6th inning.  He said give me 1 more inning around 80 to 85 pitches.  Guess the manager should have told him, nope I do not care how you feel Kershaw, you can make history here so go out there pitch tell you either give it up, your arm is injured, or game is over.  

If Kershaw told his manager he was good to go and wanted to try it, then I would have some level of agreement with you, as you should trust the person and what they say, but he said he would be done.  

[Karbo]

I agree with the Dodgers decision to pull Kershaw. What I don't agree with is Rocco's lineup management. It was stated above that the best players should be rested on the road and that is 100% correct. Fans pay to watch their favorite players on the field and they show up at a game like yesterdays, and the manager is "resting" a couple of regulars? I call BS. They sure wont refund the ticket price will they. Put your best players on the field and in the lineup when you are home, period! Rest them on the road you meatheads!

[big dog]

2 hours ago, Whitey333 said:

I agree with the comments about putting in a c lineup on getaway day.  Twins have a long history with that back to TK.  I heard Correa didn't play because it was his scheduled day off.  Good grief!  Barely a week in and he needs a day off?  They have Thursday off already.  Don't put a c lineup in at home.  If you need to do it, do it on the road.  People pay money to watch your team at home.  To not put your best lineup possible out there at home is signalling you don't care.  Baldelli obviously gave Dodgers the game before it even started. What a joke.

One reason TK did that was to keep other players from rusting on the bench. I never liked the way he did it all at once, but giving Correa a day off also lets someone else have some extra ABs and maybe break out a little bit (not that any of that actually happened on that particular day). It's a long season.

[Cap'n Piranha]

3 hours ago, VivaBomboRivera! said:

What's blue and rhymes with, "buzz saw?"

Blue Fuzz Paw?

[Cap'n Piranha]

18 hours ago, KirbyDome89 said:

Not sure if there's statistical truth to the adage that bats take longer to get rolling than arms to start a season, but they're swinging in 30 degree weather right now, I wouldn't be all that concerned just yet.

With you on the Ks/reliance on the HR though, it's not a fun style of play to watch. 

Problem is, the Dodgers were also swinging in 30 degree weather, and they scored 14 runs in two games.

[Jacksson]

Reported on the news was that there was a series of rouge high winds in downtown Minneapolis on Wednesday.  It identified the heaviest activity as being at Target Field.  Further investigation attributed the source as being from the hopeless,

flailing swings of the batters of the Minnesota Twins who totally embarrassed themselves while facing Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers by striking out a total of 13 times and going hit less against him.  So worn out from all those missed swings were the Twins batters, Wednesday afternoon, that the final eight Twins batsmen could only manage a hit and a walk when facing the two Dodgers pitchers who succeeded Kershaw.

 

Later in the sports portion of the news it announced that both the recently recalled Dereck Rodriguez and Griffin Jax suffered neck injuries in the game when pitching in relief of starter Chris Paddack.  The injuries are attributed to the rapid spin around motion that each employed necessitating from trying to follow the path of the four gopher balls they threw (in total) to the Los Angeles Dodgers batters.  The injury to Mr Rodriguez is especially concerning as the strain on his neck was excessive.  He was able to throw gopher balls to three Dodger batters in a row, while only throwing a total of four pitches.  Dereck Rodriguez, lest you forget, was just called up replace Jharel Cotton who was jettisoned from both the 28 man roster and the 40 man roster by having been designated for assignment by the  Twins following just two appearances thus far in the young 2022 season.  Over the course of two innings pitched over the course of those two appearances, Mr Cotton was able to walk four batters and throw a wild pitch.  Surprisingly, despite his wildness, Mr Cotton was barely able to exceed 90 mph on his four seam fastball during those appearances.

 

Remember that the same front office brain trust who picked Cotton, babied and protected hi during spring training, had him go north with the club while making the 28 man roster - so the team wouldn't run the risk of losing him via DFA, are the exact same brain wizards who engineered the recent trades which have not REALLY improved the team for 2022, but have instead positioned the team for an influx of minor league (and CHEAPER - for all of you that are REALLY aware of what is important to the Pohlad family) talent for the 2023 season.

 

Not to be outdone by the front office, Twins Manager, Rocco Baldelli saw fit to leave in  a reliever (Rodriguez) who had successfully navigated one pass through the Dodgers lineup after only recently catching the bus over to Minneapolis from St Paul (to replace the DFA'd Cotton).  Rodriguez, whose career long downfall has been his ability to serve up gopher balls regressed to form in his fourth inning of work by serving up gopher balls to three successive hitters and only needing 4 pitches to do so.  Baldelli left him in to ensure that the game was truly out of reach for the Twins.